WOUTER WITZEL EUROVALVE
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WOUTER WITZEL
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Reliability, availability and quality. Three hallmarks that, according to Dutch butterfly valve manufacturing specialist Wouter Witzel EuroValve, separate the company from the competition. And for its end users, which include commercial and naval vessels that cost tens of thousands of euros per hour to run, reliability is the key to the company’s competitiveness and operational integrity. Wouter Witzel EuroValve’s Sales Manager, Martijn van den Bergh, sat down with Richard Hagan to discuss the importance of high-quality, reliable butterfly valves in the maritime industry.
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ith over 50 years of production behind it, Wouter Witzel EuroValve has earned its place as a household name within the maritime industry. The company specialises in the manufacture of butterfly valves for both commercial and naval vessels. For the uninitiated, a butterfly valve is a special valve that is mounted insidea pipe and used to control the flow of liquids. It consists of a circular plate or a pair of hinged semicircular plates, attached to a spindle. The plate or plates are then opened or closed in order to allow or prevent the flow of liquids through that pipe.
cost between €100,000 and €400,000. On a ship that can cost €100,000 per hour to operate, do you really want to have trouble with your valves? No, you don’t. You want reliability, availability, security and quality, and this is what we deliver for our end users.” In fact, the company’s flagship product – its rubber-lined butterfly valves – have developed a reputation within the industry for their long lifespan. “They often last for the lifespan of the ship,” Mr van den Bergh proclaimed. “Our products have a five-year standard warranty.”
Coping with competition The value of valves Depending on the complexity of the ship and some other variables, any given vessel may require a package of between 100 and 2,000 different butterfly valves. With so many moving parts and, by extension, potential points of failure, it is in any ship owner’s best interests to buy valves that guarantee hassle-free operation, said Wouter Witzel Sales Manager, Martijn van den Bergh. “Ships can cost hundreds of millions or even over a billion euros,” he explained. “Valves are one of many different components inside, and a package of valves can
Wouter Witzel has various competitors, many of which are based in the Far East and in China. Mr van den Bergh conceded that while his competition is cheaper, they cannot compete with Wouter Witzel’s hallmark quality and reliability. “Regardless of the competition, our customers still demand our high-quality European-made product. When we can’t meet our quality standards anymore then we aren’t any better or worse than our competitors.” In the midst of Covid and the global shipping crisis, Wouter Witzel has placed a major focus on its procurement
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department and practices to ensure uninterrupted workflows whilst also protecting its quality standards. “The price of raw materials and transport has increased a lot,” he noted. “So while we already have multiple suppliers, the crisis has forced us to find more suppliers – sometimes as many as third or fourth suppliers for one particular item. We’re constantly searching around the globe for new suppliers who can fulfil our requirements, especially our high quality criteria. That makes purchasing much more difficult.” The global shipping bottlenecks have, however, benefited Wouter Witzel in the form of increased new business. “We’re seeing more enquiries, more orders and higher turnover now, much of it coming from businesses who are unable or unwilling to continue sourcing components from suppliers located outside of Europe,” Mr van den Bergh confirmed.
Building a better butterfly valve Wouter Witzel’s product range consists of products across four broad categories: rubber lined butterfly valves, high-
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performance butterfly valves, check valves and finally operation, actuation and control products. Of these, its rubber lined valves are its best-sellers and Mr van den Bergh was keen to highlight some of the reasons why those have been such a success for the company. One reason, he noted, is the overall lower cost of automating its rubber lined valves. They require “the lowest torque in the world”, resulting in significant savings in the cost of the actuators required to automate Wouter Witzel valves. “Actuators are very expensive,” he said. “While you pay more for our valves in comparison to our competitors, actuators for our competition’s valves tend to be larger and often cost more than the valves themselves. Our valves, with their low torque and high reliability, require smaller actuators, and when you can buy an actuator that is a size smaller, then you save an enormous amount of money.” A second important reason is the durability of Wouter Witzel’s rubber lined valves, particularly in high-stress, high-velocity environments. Mr van den Bergh cited
offshore wind turbine installation vessels as being a particularly good example of a vessel requiring especially high durability from its butterfly valves. Given their requirement to stay perfectly level in the water, ballast water is rapidly pumped between tanks, the flow of which is controlled by butterfly valves that must be able to deal with such a demanding environment. “These ships are extremely big,” Mr van den Bergh commented. “Their ballast tanks are controlled by butterfly valves, which have to cope with high-velocity water flowing through the open valve. The disc is obviously an obstruction to the water, and due to that obstruction, you get an unstable water flow with turbulence, cavitation, noise, vibration and so on. The rubber lining on the disc and valve must be able to withstand those conditions.” To ensure that its valves’ rubber linings stay on, Wouter Witzel vulcanises and then bonds the rubber to the disc. The end result is so durable that if one wanted to subsequently remove the rubber, it would have to be burned or machined off. “In comparison, the rubber linings of cheap
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competitors tend to detach under those high-velocity conditions, making the valve unsuitable for the application. In our valves, detachment isn’t a problem at all,” Mr van den Bergh assured.
Lightweight evolution In November 2021, Wouter Witzel introduced its latest innovation: an aluminium butterfly valve. The new product is said to be suitable for all applications and has been specifically developed with weight-saving and mobile installation needs in mind. As per the rest of the Wouter Witzel range, the new aluminium valve features low operating torque and world-class durability. It can, the company says, also be installed without the use of external gaskets. The new valve boasts a five year warranty and is already available for purchase.
Sustainability and community In mid-2022, Wouter Witzel finalised the installation of a large rooftop photovoltaic solar array at its facility. Through this and other measures, including a reduction in travel and increasing reliance on video calling software for meetings and other functions, the company expects to see a 49% reduction of its CO2 emissions by 2030. Wouter Witzel also maintains a close relationship with its surrounding communities via a bouquet of social responsibility programs. One program involves setting aside 3,000 production hours per year in their facility, for functions that are filled
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by people with various disabilities. This programme creates work that disabled people are specifically capable of doing, allowing them the dignity and satisfaction of participating in a professional workplace and earning a decent wage. Additionally, Wouter Witzel offers ten apprenticeship positions per year. Outside of its factory, the company supports 20 poverty-stricken families with birthday presents each year for the children within these families, and it
sponsors several local football teams in terms of uniforms or other kit. Mr van den Bergh concluded with some comments on the Dutch maritime industry: “I feel that it’s a pity that the EU doesn’t have great support for local producers. Thankfully, we benefit from our great maritime heritage and the strong Dutch maritime industry. All of the big names are part of the community here and we look forward to doing some great business together in the years to come.” n